migle20 Posted April 5, 2014 Share Posted April 5, 2014 Hey guys, fairly new to posting, but I've been about a while. I recently purchased a squier PJ bass as a project/upgrade from my 6 year old standard Jazz because it's had a warped neck for the majority of that time (sigh). £160 is a steal for a bass with PJ pups, albeit MII & from 1999, finding one left handed is a challenge itself!! So to ease the stress from my finals at university, I've set myself this challenge to gut the bass and re-do the whole thing (ease the stress he says..). Replacing the nut wasn't that much of a hassle, but trying to find a left handed 14-hole pickguard is. I'm tempted to just buy a 13-hole and redrill but I'm not too sure about the risk of splitting the plastic-esque finish on the body. If anyone can source a black left handed 14-hole pickguard or advice on re-drilling pickguard holes, I'd be very appreciative. Moreover, this is what I'm eager to try, re-wiring the pups/tonal controls. First up, is there any reason too? Sure the squier guitars are cheaper than the standard guitars, so in my mind that means fender make the guitar look nice, but with cheaper wood, hardware and assumingly, wiring and controls - because no noobie's gunna change anything right? Well does anyone know if the tonal controls and wiring qualities are lesser than that of the standard, and whether or not they are worth replacing? I've spent hour upon hour googling pups and have found the set for me (DP126s), but regardless of pups, surely the tone will be hindered by cheapo wiring and/or tone knobs? I'm looking forward to other project undertakers to pass down their knowledge to a bloke like myself! Miles Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoRecall Posted April 15, 2014 Share Posted April 15, 2014 Hi Miles I have a 2001 Squier P bass Special, made by the Cort factory in Indonesia, that I've had since new. Last year I swapped the pups and pots for an EMG PJ set. I've also fitted a bone nut and a Gotoh bridge. However, whilst she plays very well, I'm not happy with the tone. It's hard to describe, it's kind of brittle and trebly, not smooth and woody like a P bass. Some people describe it as "hi-fi", which is pretty apt. I also have both a Squier Vintage Modified Precision and and a Jazz (2008 and 2010, again both from the Cort Indonesian factory). It occurred to me that their "Duncan Designed" pups must be reasonable, otherwise SD wouldn't put their name to them, so I decided to try swopping the pots. I bought a CTS pot set with jack socket for both of them on Ebay for a reasonable price (my soldering is dire), and dropped those in. Man, what a transformation. It's like they were being choked before and now they're free to breath. Lovely tone on both. I've also got a Mexican Jazz and a P bass, and so DIed both the Mex Jazz and the Squier into Audacity the other day without any effects, and they sound identical. So, I would suggest that, before going down the pup swop route, try changing the pots. It's a lot cheaper, and you might find you're satisfied with the tone. I'm now wondering what I should do about my P bass special. I think I'll try pulling out the EMG set, but I'm not sure what to put in. Refit the original with new CTS pots or get new pups and pots? If so what make? active or passive? Graham Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sblueplanet Posted April 21, 2014 Share Posted April 21, 2014 The Bass Doc on here makes replacement pickguards. Made me a lefty faux-gold anodised one for my J bass. Give him a PM. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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